3/3: Women Leaders Share Insights

The 2015 Texas Women's Conference was a sellout event, attracting over 7,000 women from around the state with high-profile keynote speakers like Senior TED Fellow Candy Chang, actress and activist Patricia Arquette and Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts. Numerous panel/breakout discussions throughout the day offered attendees the opportunity to learn and engage on topics from leadership to career advancement to personal health. The Pagers who attended agreed it was an excellent use of their time, and three of them offered these insights:

Jen Bussinger: I loved the positive female energy vibe created by 7,000 women! I was particularly inspired by the presentation Bert Jacobs, co-founder of the “Life is Good” brand, made. His message of, "Protect your time with your life, because it is your life," truly resonated with me. Next, I was refreshed by the positive presentation, which turned into a discussion with the audience, on “How to Mentor and Communicate With Your Newest Employees.”  I have listened and participated in many discussions about the Millennial generation and thoroughly enjoyed the positive discussion about the vigor and hunger of the Millennials! These digital natives are ambitious and hungry for success. They value transparent leadership, being shown the big picture, and crave feedback on their performance – NOT praise – but feedback, both critical and positive.

Wendy Dunnam Tita: When I first began working as an architect I was “super serious” and let my personality be slightly overshadowed by a more formal idea of “professionalism”. Over time, my multiple roles as a woman, mother, leader, mentor, designer, blended with the more offbeat parts of my personality (windsurfer, singer, storyteller). Each one of those aspects of me makes my relationships with my clients and team members authentic, and I was so pleased to see that reflected at the conference in the keynote speakers’ presentations as well as a breakout session called “Spiraling Upward to Success”. We can’t be authentic in our work if we don’t let people know who we are and what's important to us.

Kris Walsh: I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed the conference and the amount of content that resonated with me.  I’ve thought a lot about the speakers and people I had the chance to meet throughout the day. It started with Bert Jacobs’ passionate optimism (yes, he made me tear up before 9:30am) and commitment to sharing his simple concept of living in an honest, generous way and growing the good in your life. I loved how he connected people and events to support those who can’t sometimes support themselves. Overall, it was a day filled with helpful ideas and practices of how to be yourself. If you honor your true self, not always trying to change into what you think others feel you should be, you will live a healthier/ happier life.